3 critical components of connected object infrastructure

The Internet of things is a hot topic, and it will not be long before many businesses embark on some kind of connected objects project.

By definition, a connected object is part of a broader platform — connected to a backend, often in the cloud, the connected object receives instructions or parameters from the backend, and/or sends to this backend data points collected by its sensors. For example, an intelligent thermostat is instructed by its backend to maintain a defined temperature and sends back temperature and presence measurements; an intelligent energy meter sends readings to its backend and can adjust maximum permitted wattage upon receipt of instructions.

The ability of connected objects to function properly therefore depends on 3 critical components in the infrastructure that we examine here.

APIs that communicate with the backend

Communication between remote objects and their backend, regardless of the transport protocol (Bluetooth via a mobile gateway, WiFi, cellular, etc.) is done via calls to RESTful APIs. Based on a standardized architectural style and leveraging the capabilities of the HTTP protocol, Web APIs (as they are commonly called) are the most flexible and versatile option to connect objects.

There are a few issues to consider though, to ensure that the APIs will smoothly support the connected objects:

• Scalability: you probably want to scale the number of connected objects you’ll deploy, so you need to ensure that the backend infrastructure will support spikes of calls. And since you don’t have control over when exactly each object will connect, you should plan for an uneven time distribution and peaks of traffic.
• Error management: if the backend if unavailable or overloaded, send back the proper status to the calling object so that it knows to retry in a timely fashion.
• Access concurrency: make sure that your API calls don’t lock resources needed by other objects.
• Push vs. pull: if the object needs to poll the backend frequently to stay up-to-date while actual updates are infrequent, consider a push mechanism to avoid costly repeated requests.

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